Family Planning For Internet Safety
Starting Early
The best time to start a dialogue about internet safety is early. As soon as a child begins to interact with the online world, the education can begin. And to be quite frank, it must begin. This is because as your child gets older, they will travel to places where the internet is available. And it will be the skills they are taught at home that will help to guide them when they find themselves in questionable internet situations.
Scary Stats
In just one year, internet crime went up over 30%. This is not surprising when the fact that over 40% of youth have communicated they were exposed to content they found to be problematic in some way online.
Cyber-bullying is a problem that is not going away, with over forty percent of youth reporting this activity was being initiated against them, both online and at school. And every thirty-nine seconds, a computer with internet access is attacked. This could mean many potential crimes being committed, from identity theft to distribution of child porn.
Make The Obvious More Obvious
Remembering that what may be obvious to you in terms of cyber security will likely not be obvious to the younger members of your family, or the older ones, for that matter. That's why it's important to state the obvious, even if it's been stated before.
Approaching the subject of internet security should be treated as a serious event in your household. Try to communicate information in such a way as to make an impact on those you are trying to reach, as that is the only way that what you tell them will stick.
Location, Location
The physical location of the family computer is important.
For those families with young children, placing the computer in a high-traffic
area where they can be easily observed is the first step to ensuring safe
surfing. The second is placing a limit on how long a child spends on the
computer. Any computer your children use should have anti-virus and parental
control software installed. Your internet service provider will also have safety filters for email and browsing.
Specifying Sites
Letting your kids know which sites are appropriate and inappropriate to visit is always a good idea. When children know which sites are not okay with you, they may be more inclined to ask you when they come across something questionable.
Hand in hand with identifying appropriate sites is identifying the appropriate language to use when communicating online, as well as which topics are suitable for online discussions on forums and in chat rooms.
Formulate A Family Agreement
Type up and print out an agreement that everyone in the family can review, understand and sign. The agreement should establish the rules for internet usage by all family members. Include rules like not giving out personal information online, not meeting any online friends in person and not downloading any file without getting permission first.
Place the agreement where everyone can see it; on a wall where the computer is located may be a good spot, as it will remind any computer users of the promise they made.
There are many agreements regarding family internet use that can be found online. In addition to having this type of agreement, it's always a good idea to ensure your family's computer has the latest set of virus definitions and most current version of other protection software.
